


From Seas Unknown

by MindPrince



Series: Shiftverse Sides [1]
Category: Danny Phantom, Gravity Falls, Lobotomy Corporation (Video Game)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Body Horror, Just to be safe, Lovecraftian, lobotomy corp as villains
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-14
Updated: 2018-04-14
Packaged: 2018-05-01 10:22:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5202242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MindPrince/pseuds/MindPrince
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A complete rework of the original story. Dipper and Mabel are brought along by their great uncles Stanley and Stanford on a cruise, hosted by a fellow anomaly hunter. But something ancient is coming, something from beyond the known oceans. And it wants Dipper for its own. It's not the only one on the hunt, however. An up and coming group wants to capture these anomalies and exploit them. Dipper must protect his family from this otherworldly beast while simultaneously protecting it from an eternity as a living energy source for the nefarious Lobotomy Corporation.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The seas bring new horizons

The announcement had come as a surprise. Especially since Dipper and Mabel didn't know their Grunkles had any friends outside the Falls. But apparently they did, having run into a man by the name of Vlad Masters while chasing the anomalies in the Arctic. Vlad had been after his own creatures, the ningyo, and the three had hit it off quite famously. Now Vlad had sent them all an invitation to spend a few months aboard one of his own ships. A full on cruise for the summer!

  
He was playing host for his school reunion, and while neither Stan had ever gone anywhere near Wisconsin (except to get banned from the state) Vlad wouldn't have dreamed of throwing the party without them. Now the younger twins were happily exploring the floors of the ship while the older pair had gone below deck with Vlad to discuss possible sightings of anomalies; it seemed they were planning on working together from now on.

  
None of that mattered to Dipper and Mabel right now; they were too busy having the time of their lives! The ship was fully equipped with all the things a cruise should have; so far they had found an actual indoor amusement park, a mini golf course, laser tag courses and even a full fledged water park. Mabel immediately ran for the water slide and pool, jumping in without caring she still had her sweater on. Dipper shook his head fondly and left her to it.

  
He wandered down the shopping floor until he spotted a promising store. One that apparently dealt in paranormal wares, and nothing else. The scent of white sage greeted him as he entered through the artistic wooden door; a tiny crystal bell chimed brightly. Inside was tastefully arranged in a purposeful mess. The front of the shop was dominated by ritual supplies and the occasional bit of gothic aesthetic (he was rather charmed by the black velvet day of the dead skull). The back half of the place was stocked with rustic wooden shelves full of various magic and mythology books. A lot of them were titles he had seen in New Age sections of standard bookstores but one caught his eye.

  
He had to get a stool to reach it, but he finally pulled it down. He blinked. There was no title, and yet the pages were gold leaf. He wandered around until he spotted what was supposed to be a reading corner; a mass of beanbags and cushy looking chairs, and sank into a velvet armchair. The book was full of drawings of creatures that, honestly speaking, hurt his eyes a little to look at. Most of the pictures almost looked like manic scribbling until he noticed the artist was trying to capture a rapidly shifting appearance.

  
Some of the drawings were more stable, but all were accompanied by either short or lengthy entries about the creature in question. He tucked the book under his arm and went looking again. This time he found a smaller volume hidden between two conspiracy books. It stood out more than the first had; it was entirely handwritten, it looked like a ship's log actually. But they had his interest so he brought them to the obsidian and redwood counter to purchase them.

  
A small wind-chime sat on the table beside a pile of something furry and breathing. A sign next to them read "Chime for service or wake Ruddiger". Dipper assumed Ruddiger was the ball of fur. Before he could try either one, Ruddiger woke up and blinked the prettiest cat eyes he'd ever seen at him. The cat yawned and jumped off the table and vanished behind a curtain in a blur of chinchilla colored fur.

  
The curtain slid aside and an young woman entered; the cat tucked against her. She wore an awful lot of black, broken only by the addition of purple accents. She set the cat down and Dipper saw its short legs. He couldn't resist letting out an, "Aww."

  
The woman seemed surprised he was here. "Huh, first day open and someone's buying. That's a good sign." Ruddiger purred and sniffed the books as she went to check them. "That's weird."

  
Dipper gulped, the lady was kind of intimidating. "Is something wrong, miss?"

  
"Sam's fine, kid. I don't remember stocking these two." She rubbed her chin. "Hmm, you know what? I'll let you have these, no charge."

  
He felt his eyes pop. "Really?"

  
"On one condition." She winked at him. "Tell me what's in those when you get the chance."

  
He nodded eagerly and waved goodbye, tucking the books in his ever present backpack.

  
~*~

  
Dipper was curled up in his bed, reading the monster book, when the door opened. He looked up and saw Mabel. She looked grumpy. "What's wrong? I thought you were at the pool."

  
"Yeah but the pool people made me leave cause I was "harassing the guests"." She made air quotes as she said it.

  
"Chasing boys again? Didn't you get enough of that last summer?"

  
"Heck no, Dip-dop! This is a new summer full of new opportunities for boys! I am a girl with needs after all." She giggled when Dipper blew a raspberry at her.

  
"Gross, Mabel. I don't want to hear anything about your needs."

  
She just laughed again and pounced on his bed. "Whattya got there?"

  
Dipper turned the book around to show her. She groaned. "Not more monster stuff! Didn't YOU get enough last summer." She parroted at him.

  
"Definitely. But it's just stories, no real monsters to chase. Not for us, anyway." Dipper closed the book of monsters and picked up his other find. He had been right. It was a ship's logbook, and not very old from the look of it. Most of it consisted of the kind of things one would find in such a book; weather, current direction, state of the crew and cargo, that sort of thing. At least until he got further in.

  
It turned out it was the logbook for a research vessel, out to study the deep sea life of the ocean. The captain, whose name was only listed as M. Valencia, was leading the effort. She was amazing! Dipper was even more interested in this than the monster book! When they started finding things she made sure to look at them all scientifically and artistically. It was interesting to read about how gorgeous she found even the most frightening creatures. Dipper was especially fascinated by her sketch of the dragon viperfish, even though the one she drew had a fish hanging out of its mouth.

  
He turned the page gingerly and was surprised to find the writing suddenly turned to a narrative. Suddenly aware of the pain in his back, Dipper set the book down and lay on his stomach to keep reading. Already fascinated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> can you guess what show I've been watching?


	2. A meeting with a witch

> There had been no time to scream.
> 
>   
> In an instant the submersible was snatched up, its view port a whirl of dark foam and roaring darkness. I dropped to my knees and prayed to a God I wasn’t sure existed. Then everything went silent.
> 
>   
> I was still alive. There was sunlight coming in through the portholes. I looked up and screamed. Our vessel was suspended above the ocean, held in the grip of the thing’s supposed antennae. A serpentine face glared in at me. It seemed normal enough, despite it’s large size. Wide mouth drooling and slitted nostrils fluttering as it sniffed us. That normalcy vanished as I gazed higher.
> 
>   
> Seven eyes were set about it’s face without any sense of pattern, scattered about like a child throwing stones in the mud; each blinking individually. Like staring at the twinkling stars. It then opened it’s mouth and gripped the sub with its teeth, testing the skin of its prey. Once again I fell to my knees, covering my ears to block out the screeching of the metal shell. And then the world dropped out beneath us, with a mammoth splash we hit the surface and broke through.
> 
>   
>  _WAKE UP!_
> 
>   
>  I was awake and standing before I could process what I’d heard. I looked out again and found the creature entirely changed. What gazed in at me now was a mermaid, if mermaids had been designed by Giger or Lovecraft. The pale skin and hair seemed dull compared to the vibrant glow of the creature’s green eyes. All seven arranged on its brow like the tail of a peacock. They blinked all at once and it grinned at me, long, clawed fingers suckered to the view port as it tried to pry it open. Disappointed it growled and spat some sort of goo on the window before swimming away. I was briefly mesmerized by the swirling patterns of light on its skin and smooth, scaleless tail.
> 
>   
> But this wouldn’t be the last time we would meet.

  
Dipper's eyes were bulging as he read. An actual sea monster! The Gobblewonker couldn't hold a candle to something like this. He shifted again and turned the page, eager to see if Valencia wrote more. And boy had she.

>   
> It’s been three months since I first encountered the creature we now call Phantom; named for its almost ghostly appearance. The creature has proved tenacious in its curiosity; joining our submersible whenever we launch. How it continues to find us I am unsure but I have learned a number of things about Phantom. The most important being that the creature is male. My crew discovered this when we came upon it in its natural form, for all appearances, mating with a large squid. Phantom was profoundly upset by this interruption and attacked us.
> 
>   
> Phantom is omnivorous, devouring anything from fish and plant life to coral reefs and animal bones. While his diet is interesting I find his hunting techniques to be far more fascinating. His antennae appear to be capable of emitting charges strong enough to stun animals as large as whales; he draws such beasts closer through precise and, frankly, ingenious use of chromatophores and bioluminescence to hypnotize, confuse and even disguise himself as other creatures. This ability does not appear to be responsible for his changes in form; he is fully capable of shape-shifting. I suspect he would be much heavier in his smaller shape. Unless he is able to subvert the square-cube law somehow.
> 
>   
> What other abilities he may possess are unknown at the current time. However he is able to answer questions via telepathy but he seems to be rather sensitive to wording and so such interrogations are few and far between. All I’ve learned from questioning is the following, and I quote. “I come from an ocean beyond the ocean, waters covered by storms and watched by a dead moon. I am unique in my realm and worshiped for my strength. Those pitiful creatures that walk on the ravaged lands pray for safety from my wrath; for I and I alone can forge their fates.” Melodramatic but revealing. Phantom is clearly a powerful entity and yet he seems to be rather young. He won’t say how old he is, instead making obscure riddles and misleading claims.
> 
>   
> I will continue to write down my observations as opportunities become available. Provided Phantom doesn’t decide to eat me as he has some of my crew. He seems fascinated with me for some reason.

  
Dipper closed the logbook and rolled to his back, staring at the ceiling vacantly. He wasn't sure what to think of the entries. He wasn't doubting the captain, not in the slightest. After all, he'd had plenty of his own strange encounters just last summer, and Grunkle Ford had said that anomalies were starting to show up elsewhere in the world. But all of the entries were dated long before Weirdmaggedon; his grunkles were probably still in high school at the time.

  
He decided to set both books aside for the night, not wanting to be kept awake with questions. Besides, he'd promised Sam he would tell her what was in them the next time he was at her shop. A place he fully and eagerly intendted to go back to.

  
That morning started bright and early for Dipper who, despite his best efforts, had been awake just as he thought. Mabel was just getting out of the bathroom as he pulled on his shirt and put the books in his bag. She raised a brow. "Didn't like those?"

  
"That's not it. I promised the person I got them from I would tell her what was in them."

  
At the word "her" Mabel's eyes lit up. She cooed and squeezed him hard. "Aww! Does my little bro have another crush?"

  
He shoved her off with a laugh. "No way! She's way older than me, and I learned from my crush on Wendy. She made me promise to come back, that's all."

  
Dipper took his turn in the bathroom and the two of them laughed at the things they had already seen on the ship. By the time they reached the dining hall to join their grunkles and Vlad they had tears in their from Mabel's story of the big muscely dude who screamed like a little baby when she jumped out at him from a pile of inner tubes. That was also what got her kicked out for the rest of the week.

  
They entered the hall and spotted Vlad waving them over. Breakfast consisted of several dishes of choice; mixed berry crepes, a fancy looking pudding, stacks of fluffy pancakes and even regular cereal and milk, although there were plenty of cereals to choose from. Curious, Dipper took some of the pudding and a couple of crepes. The pudding turned out to be a chocolate raspberry bread pudding; he snarfed it down and went for more.

  
Far from being put off by his manners Vlad laughed and clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Have all you like, my boy. This happens to be my favorite dish too." He leaned in to whisper. "Between the two of us, if my doctors would let me I wouldn't eat anything else."

  
Dipper laughed along with him; he certainly didn't want anything else for the foreseeable future. Breakfast ended after he stuffed himself silly with the pudding; he wound up having to give the crepes to Mabel. He had to go back and lay down to sleep it off. He woke up again at noon and headed for Sam's.

  
The shop was currently closed with a small note on the handle that read "Closed for Personal Reasons". Unconcerned, he knocked on the door and was greeted with a cheery meow and fur winding around his legs. He leaned down to pet the munchkin. "Hey Ruddiger."

  
Ruddiger continued to twist around his legs, forcing him to stumble awkwardly through the door. He spotted Sam arranging a display of crystals; Ruddiger announced his arrival with a loud meow. Sam set down the rhodonite sphere she'd been polishing. "Rudy I just let you run on deck. What do you need now- oh, you're the kid from yesterday. What's up?"

  
Apparently she hadn't actually been expecting him to come back; so the fact that he did surprised her. She admitted to it while fixing drinks for the both of them in the back room of the shop. The sign had been just in case he did show. She set down a couple cups of coffee and a dish of milk for the cat. Seeing Dipper's gaze she snorted a laugh. "Don't worry about Rudy that stuff is a lactose free recipe I got from a friend. Only the best for that spoiled brat."

  
Ruddiger meowed, and the two of them laughed.

  
~*~

  
_The waves had changed. A ship. It’s engines disturbed the waters far further than the mere surface. It woke slowly, shaking off the tiny bodies of years of death. A shallow sting of regret at destroying nature’s work. But nature would build another and it would live to see it. Casting strange eyes upwards it tasted the dreams of those in the great metal ship. So many, so simple. Fears and hopes, all things it had known before. Then it felt the spark. A single bright flash that nearly burned in its intensity. Dreams of discovery and adventure, mysteries, strange beasts, and a familiar, almost perfect recreation of events long past. Of a face it had once known._

  
_The mind it touched held that same curious fire. It reached out, brushing feather light against the mind it had found. The dreams reached back and it retreated. It wanted more of this spark. It would have this._

  
_The ship moved on and it followed._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you EVER get the chance to absolutely eat some chocolate raspberry bread pudding. That stuff is my jam.


End file.
